Meeting Date: HIST 145 EFFECTIVE: Summer 2011 Launched
Modesto Junior College Course Outline of Record HIST 145
I. OVERVIEW The following information will appear in the 2011 - 2012 catalog
HIST 145 History of Latin America 3 Units Formerly listed as: HIST - 145: Latin American History Recommended for Success: Before enrolling in this course, students are strongly advised to satisfactorily complete ENGL 101.
Survey of Latin American history through the present, emphasizing changes and continuities in the political, economic, social, and cultural life of the continent. Examines issues such as: the colonial legacy, development and underdevelopment, ideas of race and ethnicity, relationship to the outside world, the construction of the nation-state, gender, and social, economic, and political movements. Field trips might be required. (A-F or P/NP - Student choice) Lecture Transfer: (CSU, UC) General Education: (MJC-GE: B ) (CSU-GE: D6 ) (IGETC: 4F )
II. LEARNING CONTEXT Given the following learning context, the student who satisfactorily completes this course should be able to achieve the goals specified in Section III, Desired Learning:
A. COURSE CONTENT
1. Required Content:
a. HISTORICAL TOPICS
i. Pre-Conquest and the Colonial Period (to 1825)
a. The major socio-political-economic characteristics of the pre-Columbian cultures of Mesoamerica and Andes.
b. Patterns of Spanish exploration, conquest and settlement in the 16th Century.
c. Conflicts between the Crown, the conquerors and the ecclesiastical authorities over the nature of the conquest and the Native American.
d. The impact of European colonization on native societies, especially that of the demographic collapse on the social-political-economic reorganization of colonial society.
e. Mining, Indian, and Spanish agriculture, the plantation system, trans-Atlantic and inter and intra-regional trade.
f. The development of labor systems (i.e. encomienda, mita, yanaconaje, debt-peonage, slavery, wage system
g. Development of regional identities, and ideas of race and ethnicity during the colonial period.
h. Impact of Christianity, and the Church, in the development of colonial society.
i. Expansion, reform, and defense of the Spanish empire during the 18th century ("Bourbon Reforms").
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Meeting Date: HIST 145 EFFECTIVE: Summer 2011 Launched j. Independence in Spanish and Portuguese America.
ii. The Early National Period (1825-1850's)
a. Impact of Independence
b. Formation of nation-state
iii. The Transformation of Latin America (1850's-1870's)
a. Re-insertion in the world economy and export-led growth.
b. Slave emancipation and post-emancipation in Latin America.
c. British influence in Latin America.
iv. Maturity of the neo-colonial order (1880’s-1930’s)
a. Liberalism and modernization
b. Expansion of pattern of import-export growth
c. Oligarchies, and co-optative democracies
d. The growth of the middle-class and the working class
e. U.S. expansion into Latin America
v. Crisis of the Old Order and New Solu tions (1930-1945)
a. Import-substituting industrialization
b. Workers and politics
c. Populism and growth of the state
d. The U.S.'s "Good Neighbor Policy"
vi. New Options, Old Responses
a. Stagnation in the import-substituting growth model
b. The Cold War and Latin America and the sharpening of class conflict
c. Socialism, and armed struggle
a. Cuba
b. El Salvador
c. Peru
d. Chile
e. Nicaragua
d. Bureaucratic authoritarian regimes
e. U.S. intervention in Latin American affairs
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Meeting Date: HIST 145 EFFECTIVE: Summer 2011 Launched
vii. The 1980's, the lost decade; – economic crisis, and neoliberal reform.
viii. Electoral democracies – strengths and limitations
ix. Currrent problems in Latin America
b. HISTORICAL ANALYSIS SKILLS
i. Demonstration of knowledge of historical information such as names, chronologies and periodization, terms and concepts.
ii. Understanding of the diversity and complexity of the historical context that shapes human experience.
iii. Understanding of the interrelatedness of historical events as expressed in such concepts as continuity and change, causation, interdependence of cultures, and the interaction between differing groups and societies.
iv. Ability to take a position on a debatable historical issue and use historical data as evidence to support position.
v. Analysis of primary and secondary sources.
vi. Understanding of the concepts of bias and point-of-view as they relate to historical thinking.
vii. Formulation of important historical questions through inquiry.
viii. Determination of the significance of different kinds of historical change.
ix. Understanding that although the past tends to be viewed in terms of present values, a proper perception of the past requires a serious examination of the values of the time.
x. Ability to articulat e the above modes of historical thinking and analysis through critical writing and/or discussion.
B. ENROLLMENT RESTRICTIONS
1. Advisories
Before enrolling in this course, students are strongly advised to satisfactorily complete ENGL 101.
2. Requisite Skills Before entering the course, the student will be able to:
a. Read and comprehend college level texts.
C. HOURS AND UNITS
3 Units INST METHOD TERM HOURS UNITS Lect 54 3.00 Lab 0 0
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Disc 0 0
D. METHODS OF INSTRUCTION (TYPICAL) Instructors of the course might conduct the course using the following method:
1. Lectures that provide frameworks for content knowledge and analytical skills (i.e. didactic and dialectical/Socratic method).
2. Reading and comprehension assignments in textbooks, monographs and primary source documents that encourage deep learning.
3. Use of printed and hand-produced materials (wall maps, handouts, overheads) and multimedia materials (text, audio, still images, video delivered via electronic devices).
4. Active learning exercises and student-centered learning techniques (discussions, 'one minute papers', debate) designed to teach students to assess and appraise historical developments then draw their own conclusions.
E. ASSIGNMENTS (TYPICAL)
1. EVIDENCE OF APPROPRIATE WORKLOAD FOR COURSE UNITS Time spent on coursework in addition to hours of instruction (lecture hours)
a. Reading assignments of approximately 30 - 60 pages (weekly).
b. Readings in primary source documents, and/or scholarly journals (weekly or bi-weekly).
c. Typed essays or projects that demonstrate content knowledge and understanding of historical analysis skills, totaling approximately 1,500 to 2,000 words (one to two per term).
d. Discussion board or journal writing, based on textbook and supplementary readings, totaling approximately 200 words per assignment (weekly or bi-weekly).
e. Preparation for in-class quizzes and examinations based on reading assignments and class lectures/discussions. Exams include a significant written component (two to three exams per term).
2. EVIDENCE OF CRITICAL THINKING Assignments require the appropriate level of critical thinking
a. Written in-class essays based on analytical questions.
i. Name and describe the development, and impact, of five labor systems in colonial Latin America studied in class and in the readings. Make sure to include approximate dates, and the historical evolution of each.
b. Analytical papers that ask students to use evidence from primary and secondary sources to answer a historical question. May be in the form of a research paper, discussion board entry or critical essay.
i. After reading the Brookings Institution's position paper, "Rethinking U.S. - Latin American Relations," answer the following questions:
a. Who is the author(s)? Who wrote or created this? Is there a single or multiple authors?
b. What type of source is this?
c. What is the message of this source?
d. Who is the intended audience? Who is the author addressing? Was the source intended for private or public consumption?
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Meeting Date: HIST 145 EFFECTIVE: Summer 2011 Launched e. Why was this source created? Is the document or source simply a compilation of facts, or does it include opinion, inference, or interpretation?
f. Is this source credible and accurate? Why should you trust, or distrust, this source?
c. Book or article reviews of scholarly work that ask students to identify the author's main arguments and offer a critique of those arguments. May be in the form of formal review essay, discussion board entry or journal.
i. Discuss the thesis and main findings in Charles C. Mann's "1491." How does it impact our understanding of native Latin American cultures before the conquest. What are the scholarly (and political) implications of the issue under discussion?
F. TEXTS AND OTHER READINGS (TYPICAL)
1. Book: Keen, Benjamin, and Keith Haynes (2009). A History of Latin America (8/e). Boston Houghton Mifflin Company.
2. Book: Williamson, Edwin (2010). The Penguin History of Latin America London Penguin.
3. Book: Winn, Peter (2006). Americas: The Changing Face of Latin American and the Caribbean (3 /e). Berkeley University of California Press.
4. Book: Chasteen, John Charles (2011). Born in Blood and Fire: A Concise History of Latin America (3/e). W.W. Norton.
5. Book: Charlip, Julie A. and Burns, E. Bradford (2011). Latin America: An Interpretive History (9/e). Pearson.
6. Other: Primary and secondary source documents relating to themes and topics in History 145. Typical sources might include (but are not limited to) autobiographies, governmental documents, sermons, diaries, film, letters, scholarly articles. These sources may be found in peer-reviewed journals, in online databases, in publisher websites, or in books.
III. DESIRED LEARNING
A. COURSE GOAL As a result of satisfactory completion of this course, the student should be prepared to:
use an understanding of Latin American political, social, economic, and cultural developments to draw causal relationships between Latin America's past and its present-day realities.
B. STUDENT LEARNING GOALS Mastery of the following learning goals will enable the student to achieve the overall course goal.
1. Required Learning Goals Upon satisfactory completion of this course, the student will be able to:
a. Identify, describe, and interpret the most important changes and continuities in the historical development of Latin American;
b. Identify and discuss the regional differences of the Latin American experience with respect to political, economic, demographic, ethnic and social trends;
c. Explain the consequences of colonialism, coerced labor systems, foreign intervention, neo-colonialism, industrialization, and underdevelopment;
d. Examine and interpret the imposition of Christianity and related institutions on Latin American
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Meeting Date: HIST 145 EFFECTIVE: Summer 2011 Launched societies.
e. Describe and evaluate conflicting economic and political ideologies, such as mercantilism, liberalism, and socialism;
f. Analyze and discuss the impact of U.S. foreign policy in Latin America;
g. Discuss and interpret the synthesis of Native Americans, Europeans, Africans, and other immigrant groups, towards the creation of Latin American ethnic, racial, and social identities.
h. Identify and discuss the role of gender in the shaping Latin American societies;
i. Identify and discuss the development and impact of social classes to political, economic, and social change;
j. Examine the role of culture and artistic expression in the formation of Latin America;
IV. METHODS OF ASSESSMENT (TYPICAL)
A. FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
1. Written quizzes
2. Discussions
3. Objective quizzes
4. Homework assignments
B. SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT
1. Essay examinations that require demonstration of content knowledge and historical analysis skills. Typical length: 600 - 1,200 words.
2. Formal essays that require demonstration of historical analysis skills and content knowledge. Collective typical length: 1.500 - 2,500 words.
3. Projects and presentations that include significant critical analysis of historical topics. Typical length: 750 - 1,000 words.
4. Objective examinations that measure knowledge of historical information.
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